BGDM (Bâtiments de guerre des mines) is the program for the future mine counter measure (MCM) vessels of the French Navy. These vessels will replace the in-service “Tripartite” vessels, a class of minehunters developed between the navies of Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Belgium and the Netherlands are replacing their vessels with MCM motherships as part of the “rMCM” program.
During Euronaval 2022, France announced it was joining the program, confirming that the rMCM mothership design by Naval Group will be used as a basis to answer the French Navy BGDM requirement, which are to be ordered this year.
Naval News understands that Belgium and the Netherlands welcomed the move because of the many advantages it will bring: economies of scale (in case of joint procurement of equipment and spare parts), greater interoperability and potential benefits in terms of training too.
In an exclusive interview with Naval News in November 2022, Vice Admiral Arie Jan de Waard, Director of the Dutch Defense Materiel Organization (DMO) highlighted the above and insisted that the French vessels would be “exactly the same”. Asked specifically about the benefits he expects from France joining the program, Admiral de Waard replied:
“Of course, economies of scale, so you got more ships than only the ships for Belgium and the Netherlands. Also what we call interoperability and interchangeability: If more navies use the same platform, you can share spare parts, you can exchange crews, there are lots of benefits which you get from buying the same stuff.
And in the discussions, first, France wanted the ship but wanted to change some things… We also have examples that if you buy the same stuff but then you change something in the platform or whatever, that does not help for being interchangeable or interoperable. So, here it is! Again a perfect example, France said no, no, no, we are going to buy exactly the same mothership as Belgium and the Netherlands are going to buy”.
Vice Admiral Arie Jan de Waard
With France adopting the same “platform”, the question of systems and equipment onboard arises. We contacted both the French Navy and the DGA to shed light on this. In a common response, the two services confirmed that France wishes to maximize the commonality of the “French design” with that of the Belgian-Dutch vessels:
“In 2021, the Minister for the Armed Forces validated the choice of the architecture of the Belgian-Dutch mine warfare vessels as the reference architecture for future French BGDMs, with adaptation to French specificities, in particular to integrate the drone system developed in Franco-British cooperation. With this in mind, France wants to maximize commonality with the Belgian-Dutch design”.
French Navy and DGA
The above statement makes reference to the French / British SLAMF / MMCM program in which Thales is the prime contractor. The Belgian / Dutch rMCM program relies on a toolbox mostly provided by ECA Group. The unmanned systems in each program vary in size and type, needing specific adaptions, mainly in the handling systems aboard the motherships.
Regarding the radar system, the French Navy and DGA told us that the Thales “NS50 which will equip the Belgian-Dutch BGDMs is the preferred option for French vessels.”
Last but not least, regarding the main naval gun to be fitted aboard the BGDM, the French Navy and DGA explained:
“For the artillery system, the final choice will be made following the Value Analysis to be carried out between the 2 options 40Mk4 Bofors and RapidFire.”
Value Analysis (VA), also known as Value Engineering (VE), is a standardized, multi-skilled team approach which aims at identifying the lowest cost way and ensuring the highest worth to accomplish the functions of a product, process or service.
Each system has their pros and cons. Namely, RAPIDFire is French, the system is getting fitted on French vessels (and a variation of it on French Army vehicles) but its future air burst ammunition is not yet funded. Regarding the Swedish gun, the 40Mk4 is already integrated on the mothership platform which means reduced costs for France. But while the gun has been selected by seven different customers, it is not in service with the French Navy and its introduction would mean yet another ammunition type which can pose challenges in terms of logistics. Below are more details about each system.
RAPIDFire
The RAPIDFire is being developed through the French Ministry of Armed Forces S40SA program, which encompasses different applications with different users. Naval News had an exclusive access to the gun system while it was still in the factory.
Designed to protect platforms from low-level air threats, including drones, RAPIDFire can autonomously and automatically acquire, identify and destroy a threat using target designation data provided by a combat management system. With a ready rack of 140 rounds of ammunition, corresponding to about 30 interceptions, the system offers effective firepower against drones and swarms of drones, avoiding attrition of surface-to-air missiles in the event of a saturation attack.
The first system produced will be installed on the French Navy new fleet replenishment tanker Jacques Chevallier this month. Back in 2018, the RAPIDFire and the 40Mk4 were competing (along with other systems by Leonardo and Rheinmetall), with the Thales/Nexter gun system coming out as the winning big. Another platforms on which the RAPIDFire will be installed are the 10 offshore patrol vessels known as “patrouilleurs océaniques” (PO), of which the first two are to be delivered in 2025. Nexter and Thales still expect funding for the so called A3B rounds: The Anti Aerial Airburst (A3B) munitions are time-fuzed for greater effectiveness against all types of targets and cannot be jammed, decoyed or triggered by clutter. are time-fuzed for greater effectiveness against all types of targets and cannot be jammed, decoyed or triggered by clutter.
Naval News contacted Nexter to ask why they feel RAPIDFire is the best solution for the French Navy’s future BGDM vessels. Here is their reply:
We consider that the RAPIDFire is the natural solution to equip the BGDMs of the French Navy, because it combines:
- MODERNITY: The RAPIDFire is at the forefront of technology both in terms of artillery with the 40 CTA cannon and fire controls and optronics. Its digital architecture is designed to be scalable and integrate the next technologies that will maintain its superiority.
- FIREPOWER: The RAPIDFire carries up to 140 telescoped rounds ready to fire. In particular, it will be able to fire the anti-aerial airburst (A3B) ammunition, the development of which has taken new steps this year.
- SOVEREIGNTY: Designed by Nexter and Thales, RAPIDFire is a French solution.
- CONSISTENCY: The RAPIDFire already equips the new force supply vessels (BRF) of the French Navy. Similarly, its 40CTA gun is currently entering service on the T40 turret of the Army’s JAGUAR.
40Mk4
The 40Mk4 40mm gun is used as a primary or secondary naval gun system to combat both air and surface threats, but it can also be used against coastal ground targets.
The Bofors 40Mk4 has the capability to rapidly switch between optimised ammunition types, including programmable 40mm 3P all-target ammo. It can go from warning to destruction in less than 0.5 seconds. The 3P ammo can be programmed for optimised effect against any target, including airburst patterns for new threats that were previously impossible to engage. The automatically loaded, remotely controlled weapon can also be locally controlled as a backup, equipping the operator for any scenario.
Existing customers of the Bofors 40Mk4 include Sweden, Finland, UK, Brazil, Japan and of course Belgium and the Netherlands for the rMCM program.
Naval News contacted BAE Systems Bofors to ask why they feel the 40Mk4 is the best solution for the French Navy’s future BGDM vessels. Here is their reply:
Here are our strong points about the 40 Mk4.
- The Bofors 40 Mk4 gun system is the fourth generation coming from the classic Bofors gun designed in the thirties and widely used during WWII.
- The Bofors 40 Mk4 has a high rate of fire: 300 rounds per minute: and a long reach: 12 500 meters.
- Together with the intelligent 3P ammunition it engages any air threat from missiles to air planes, helicopters and drones. Yet, the 40 Mk4 is a true multipurpose gun with excellent capabilities also against land and surface targets.
- The Bofors 40 Mk4 with its low weight (2,5 tonnes with 100 rounds of 40mm ammunition) and compact size can easily be fitted to both small and large vessels.
- The Bofors 40 Mk4 was introduced in 2016 and there are now already 55 guns sold to 7 different customer and countries, where it is in service in both navies and coast guards.
- The Bofors 40 Mk4 is easy to handle and easy to maintain with very short time to repair and long MTBF.
- The system is very reliable.